FARC News

Colombia's Congress has ratified a revised version of the peace accord with the FARC, a positive sign of political will to move the process forward despite lingering uncertainties concerning the time frame for implementation.*

Colombia's government and rebel group the FARC have signed a revised peace deal, as the two sides race to reduce the chances of more guerrilla fighters falling outside of the planned demobilization process.

Top officials in Colombia have recognized a phenomenon that has become increasingly apparent to observers of the FARC peace process: criminal groups are taking control of areas abandoned by the guerrillas.

Two FARC guerrillas have reportedly been killed by soldiers in Colombia in the first publicly reported violation of a bilateral ceasefire meant to smooth the path towards a peace deal with the left-wing rebels. However, the outbreak of hostilities shows how precarious the process has become.

FARC Profile

As the biggest irregular army in Colombia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - FARC) have long operated in various regions of the country in search of resources to fund their insurgency. They agreed to end their 52-year war against the government in August 2016, as part of a peace process that began in 2012.
The FARC are the oldest and most important guerrilla group in the Western Hemisphere. They have long financed their political and military battle against the Colombian government through kidnapping, extortion and participating in the drug trade on various levels.

Colombia's Congress has ratified a revised version of the peace accord with the FARC, a positive sign of political will to move the process forward despite lingering uncertainties concerning the time frame for implementation.*

Colombia's government and rebel group the FARC have signed a revised peace deal, as the two sides race to reduce the chances of more guerrilla fighters falling outside of the planned demobilization process.

Top officials in Colombia have recognized a phenomenon that has become increasingly apparent to observers of the FARC peace process: criminal groups are taking control of areas abandoned by the guerrillas.

Two FARC guerrillas have reportedly been killed by soldiers in Colombia in the first publicly reported violation of a bilateral ceasefire meant to smooth the path towards a peace deal with the left-wing rebels. However, the outbreak of hostilities shows how precarious the process has become.

Forty days after Colombia rejected a peace agreement between the government and FARC rebels, a second deal has been signed with 56 amendments, getting the peace process back on track. Nevertheless, huge challenges remain.

Colombia's Attorney General has announced what appears to be the first ever seizure of mining-related FARC assets, potentially stirring up the already turbulent process of finding a resolution to the FARC peace crisis.

Colombia's Defense Minister has voiced serious concerns that the FARC guerrilla group may break apart if the government does not work fast to reach a new peace accord -- a politically charged process that looks set to be a slow one.

The FARC's commander in chief and Colombia's political opposition have staked out their positions on the renegotiation of a peace deal with the guerrilla group, but questions remain about whether or not the two sides are willing to make concessions on key points of disagreement.

As former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe digs his claws into the carefully crafted peace agreement between Colombia's government and the FARC guerrillas, the debate over prosecuting rebel commanders for drug trafficking crimes will surely rise to the fore, providing a potentially accord-busting power to the former executive.

The awarding of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos adds a new, potentially game-changing element to his administration's efforts to salvage a government-negotiated peace deal with the country's main rebel group.

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Investigations

In August 2002, the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) greeted Colombia's new president with a mortar attack that killed 14 people during his inauguration. The attack was intended as a warning to the fiercely anti-FARC newcomer. But it became the opening salvo of...

On May 27, 1964 up to one thousand Colombian soldiers, backed by fighter planes and helicopters, launched an assault against less than fifty guerrillas in the tiny community of Marquetalia. The aim of the operation was to stamp out once and for all the communist threat in...

When considering the possibilities that the FARC may break apart, the Ivan Rios Bloc is a helpful case study because it is perhaps the weakest of the FARC's divisions in terms of command and control, and therefore runs the highest risk of fragmentation and criminalization.

The FARC have always had a love-hate relationship with drugs. They love the money it brings, funds which have allowed them to survive and even threaten to topple the state at the end of the 1990s. They hate the corruption and stigma narcotics have also brought to...

Ricardo Mauricio Menesses Orellana liked horses, and the Pasaquina rodeo was a great opportunity to enjoy a party. He was joined at the event -- which was taking place in the heart of territory controlled by El Salvador's most powerful drug transport group, the Perrones -- by the...

If we are to believe the Colombian government, the question is not if, but rather when, an end to 50 years of civil conflict will be reached. Yet the promise of President Juan Manuel Santos that peace can be achieved before the end of 2014 is simply...

In October 2012, the US Treasury Department designated the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) as a transnational criminal organization (TCO). While this assertion seems unfounded, there is one case that illustrates just why the US government is worried about the future.

The United States -- which through its antinarcotics, judicial and police attaches was very familiar with the routes used for smuggling, and especially those used for people trafficking and understood that those traffickers are often one and the same -- greeted the new government of Elias Antonio...

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